Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is South Indian fried chicken, and it is a completely different category from anything you have had before. The chicken is marinated overnight in a spice paste built from ginger, garlic, red chili, and a few ingredients that give it a deep, almost fiery colour. By the time it goes into the fryer, the flavour has gone all the way through.

The frying is fast and hot. The outside comes out shatteringly crispy while the inside stays absurdly juicy. Then comes the tempering: mustard seeds, curry leaves, and dried red chilies sizzled in oil and poured over the chicken while it is still hot. That tempering is what separates Chicken 65 from every other fried chicken.

This is not boneless wings. This is not nuggets. This is a dish with history, built in South Indian kitchens and perfected over decades. I serve it the way it is supposed to be served: hot, crispy, and with enough spice to remind you that fried chicken can actually have flavour.